STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced she would sign into law the Medical Aid in Dying Act after coming to an agreement with the state Legislature on additional safety guardrails, bringing an end to a decade-long battle by advocates to get the measure passed.
Once the agreed-upon bill is passed and signed in January, the law will go into effect six months later.
The governor made the announcement 191 days after the Senate approved the original measure on June 9 by a margin of 35-27. That vote came over a month and a half after the state Assembly passed the measure on April 23 by a margin of 81-67.
“New York has long been a beacon of freedom, and now it is time we extend that freedom to terminally ill New Yorkers who want the right to die comfortably and on their own terms,” said Hochul in a statement. “My mother died of ALS, and I am all too familiar with the pain of seeing someone you love suffer and being powerless to stop it. Although this was an incredibly difficult decision, I ultimately determined that with the additional guardrails agreed upon with the legislature, this bill would allow New Yorkers to suffer less — to shorten not their lives, but their deaths.”
>> Read the full explanation from Gov. Kathy Hochul about why she decided to legalize medical aid in dying >>
New York will become the 14th jurisdiction in the United States to permit medical aid in dying. Others include Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, New Jersey, Delaware, Maine and New Mexico. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act earlier this month.
The Medical Aid in Dying Act — which was carried by Manhattan Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal in the Senate and Westchester Assemblymember Amy Paulin in the Assembly, and counts Staten Island state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton as its prime co-sponsor — allows mentally competent, terminally ill patients over the age of 18 the choice of self-administering prescribed life-ending medication. Only those with medically confirmed terminal illnesses and conditions who have fewer than six months to live will be able to request medical aid in dying. A person doesn’t qualify for the measure, also commonly known as MAID, solely because of age or disability, and there is no list of qualifying medical conditions. Health care providers who don’t wish to participate in the process can opt out without fear of retribution.
“Throughout this long journey, I have been humbled by the families who shared intimate and painful stories to help us understand why this option matters,” Scarcella-Spanton told the Advance/SILive.com. “Today’s agreement is a testament to their strength. This law respects the wishes of terminally ill adults and provides a compassionate option for those who need it. I am grateful the governor has acted, and I am even more grateful for the advocates who carried this cause forward.”
All four Staten Island assemblymembers — Charles Fall, Michael Reilly, Michael Tannousis and Sam Pirozzolo — voted against the legislation, as did state Sen. Andrew Lanza. Fall is a Democrat, while Reilly, Tannousis, Pirozzolo, and Lanza are Republicans.
Hochul stated she and the state Legislature came to an agreement on the Medical Aid in Dying Act after elected officials agreed to add several more guardrails. Those guardrails include: